China Bans Horror

Posted by Jason Baldyga

10 years ago

Your favorite totalitarian superpower, the People’s Republic of China, is working day and night to make sure the 2008 Beijing Olympics present a cleaner, happier, healthier China to the world. That’s why the government has decided to add horror to the long list of banned video and audio content. That’s right, ALL of it.

The administration’s new hit-list includes: “wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror,” a report from Reuters says. It is their aim to “control and cleanse the negative effect these items have on society, and to prevent horror, violent, cruel publications from entering the market through official channels and to protect adolescents’ psychological health.” Producers have a three-week grace period in which they can report horror content to the authorities before the real crack-down begins.